Oklahoma begins a pivotal and brutal stretch of the season this weekend, hosting offensive-minded Ole Miss, the first of five straight games for the Sooners against SEC teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.
The game on Saturday between No. 13 Oklahoma and No. 8 Ole Miss will be the first trip to Norman, Oklahoma, for the visiting Rebels and only the third game ever between these two programs. They're going to be seeing each other more often down the road, as Ole Miss is one of the Sooners' three annual conference opponents for at least the next four years.
Ole Miss is one of three SEC teams Oklahoma has never beaten. The Rebels won the two previous meetings 27-25 in the Independence Bowl in Bob Stoops' first season in 1999 and 26-14 last season at Ole Miss.
This is homecoming weekend at OU, and Saturday's game also marks the 100th anniversary of the first game played at what is now Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The inaugural game was in 1925, a 7-0 Oklahoma victory over Drake.
Both teams come into the game with identical 6-1 overall records. Ole Miss is 3-1 in the conference, while OU is 2-1 in SEC play. The Rebels are coming off their first loss of the season, dropping a 43-35 decision at Georgia last weekend. Meanwhile, Oklahoma rebounded from a 23-6 loss in its Red River Rivalry game with Texas the week before with a decisive 26-7 road win at South Carolina.
The Sooners have already played three games against teams ranked in the AP or Coaches polls at the time the game was played and finish out the regular season against five more SEC teams, including Ole Miss, that are presently ranked in the top 25. That adds up to one of the most difficult schedules of the 2025 college football season.
What to know about Ole Miss
- The Ole Miss offense averages 37.4 points and nearly 500 yards per game, third-best in the SEC and No. 8 nationally. The offense is led by senior quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, a transfer from Ferris State, and sophomore running back Kewan Lacy. Chambliss has completed 63% of his passes for 1,549 yards and eight touchdowns with one interception. He has also gained 323 yards on the ground, along with five rushing TDs. Lacy has 618 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns and is averaging 4.5 yards per carry. Ole Miss also has a quartet of talented receivers, each of whom has at least 19 receptions this season and 300 or more receiving yards.
- If Ole Miss has a vulnerability it is on the defense side. The Rebels have allowed an average of 362 yards per game, which ranks 13th out of the 16 SEC teams. The yards are fairly evenly distributed between run and pass. In last year's game against the Sooners, Ole Miss linebacker Suntarine Perkins had nine sacks, third-most in Ole Miss history. Perkins led the Rebels with a team-best 10 tackles last weekend against Georgia.
- Ole Miss is 45-14 since 2021 under head coach Lane Kiffin. Since the 2020 season, Kiffin's Ole Miss teams lead all FBS teams averaging 503 yards of offense per game.
- The Ole Miss offensive line ranks second in the SEC and 15th nationally with just seven sacks allowed this season.
What to know about Oklahoma
- Oklahoma is off to its best seven-game start in several decades. The Sooners lead the nation in six defensive categories and lead the SEC in 14 different categories, including points allowed (9.4 per game) and total defense (213.0 per game) and sacks per game (4.0).
- The Sooners ran the ball for 171 yards last weekend against South Carolina, with true freshman Tory Blaylock credited with 101 of those yards. It was Blaylock's second 100-yard game of the season. Oklahoma is going to have to be able to run the ball effectively against an Ole Miss defense that has been vulnerable against the run this season.
- Quarterback John Mateer ranks in the top-25 nationally in total offense (13th, 296 yards per game), completions per game (22nd. 22.1 per game) and passing yards per game (23rd, 261.2) and hasn't dropped off significantly despite playing with a broken hand in his last two games.
- Forty-five percent of Oklahoma's opponents' offensive plays this season (181 of 405) have gone for zero or negative yards. Twenty-three additional plays have resulted in a one-yard pickup. What this means is that 50% of the Sooners' opponents' offensive plays have resulted in one or fewer yards. In each of the last five games, the Oklahoma defense has recorded 11-plus tackles for loss.
Key matchup
There is little question that the critical matchup in Saturday's third-ever game between Oklahoma and Ole Miss is the chess match between the offensive genius of Lane Kiffin of Ole Miss and the defensive mastermind of OU's Brent Venables. Whichever team wins this classic battle will win the game. For example:
- Oklahoma ranks first nationally in total defense; Ole Miss ranks eighth in total offense.
- Ole Miss ranks eighth in passing yards per game; Oklahoma ranks fourth nationally in passing yards allowed per game.
- The Sooners rank third among FBS teams in third-down conversion defense; the Rebels are 14th in the nation in third-down conversions.
- Above all, the Oklahoma defense must stop the Ole Miss run game and limit explosive plays.
Prediction
This game can best be billed as unstoppable force vs. immovable object, with Ole Miss on offense representing the former and the Oklahoma defense the latter. That's strength on strength will be in prime play when Ole Miss has the ball on Saturday. But the matchup between OU on offense and Ole Miss on defense will also factor into the outcome of this game. The line favors Oklahoma by 5.5 points. I see this as a relatively low-scoring, grind-it-out type of game in which third-down conversions and sustaining drives will be key factors. Home field, where Oklahoma is 149-15 over the last 27 seasons, is a plus factor for the Sooners in this matchup of ranked teams.
Oklahoma 27, Ole Miss 24